Clarke optimistic he will be fit for Ashes series

Injured Australia captain home early from India in an effort to sort out his back problem in time for his English summer

Michael Clarke hopes medical scans will pinpoint the cause of his back trouble (Ryan Pierse)

MICHAEL CLARKE, the Australia captain, is still uncertain as to how serious
his latest back problem is, but insisted it was “very unlikely” the injury
would keep him out of the Ashes which starts in mid-July.

Clarke returned has returned to Sydney after he was ruled out of the fourth
Test against India in Delhi. He will undergo scans early next week to
determine the extent of the damage before making a decision on whether he
will be available for the Indian Premier League, starting next month.

“I don’t really know [how the injury is] at this stage,” Clarke said at Sydney
airport. “I’m just off a plane, so I’ll have scans next week and spend
plenty of time with the physio and, fingers crossed, hopefully it pulls up
okay. It’s a little bit sore. Sitting down for 12 hours has made it a little
bit stiff, but I’ll go